Quick-action triple valve



(No Model.) f 2-Sheets-Sheet 1.

HQH; WESTINGHOUSE.- QUICK ACTION .TRIPLEVALVE. I No. 518,929. I PatentedApr. 24, 1894.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. H. WESTINGHOUSE.

I QUICK ACTION TRIPLE'VALVE. N0. 518,929. Patented Apr. 24, 1894.

Fin-1-2 ill FIG-3- NITED STATES PATENT OFFicE.

HERMAN WESTINGHOUSE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

QUICK-ACTION TRIPLE VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,929, dated April24, 1894. Application filed December 14, 1893. Serial No. 493,647. (Nomodel.)

T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, HENRY HERMAN 'WEsT- INGHOUSE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny effected andcontrolled by the movement of the triple valve piston.

The improvement claimed-is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanyingdrawings: Figure l is a central section through aquick action triple valve illustrating an embodiment of myinvention, theparts being shown in their normal or release positions; Fig. 2, asimilar section showing the parts in the positions which they occupy inmaking an emergency, or quick, application of the brakes; Fig. 3, a viewshowing the face of the slide of the triple valve; and, Fig. 4, a planView of the seat of the slide valve of the triple valve.

In the drawings, Ihave illustrated my invention in connection with atriple valve of the Westinghouse type, but it is not limited to suchspecific form of quick action mechanism, nor to any other particularstyle or .form of triple valve device. The casing, 1, of

the triple valve is connected with the train pipe, or a branchtherefrom, by means of the screw threaded nipple 2, and fluid from thetrain pipe flows through the passages 3, 4, chamber 5, and passages 6,into the piston chamber 7, where it acts on the movable abutment, orpiston, 8, and moves it to the right, to the extremity of its stroke, asshown inFig. 1. The fluid from the train pipe then passes through thefeed groove, 9, around the piston, and into the chamber which is in opencommunication with the auxiliary reservoir. The slide valve, 11, isloosely fitted between shoulders formed on the stem 12, of the piston 8,and is provided with ports 13- and 14, for admitting fluid, through theport 19 in the valve seat, from the auxiliary reservoir to the brakecylindergin making service and emergency applications of the brakes, andwith an exhaust recess or cavity, 15, for exhausting fluid from thebrake cylinder to the atmosphere in releasing the brakes.

' In addition to the ports or passages already mentioned, a cavity orrecess 20 is formed in the face of the slide valve 11', by means ofwhich it is adapted to eifect the operation of the quick action valvedevice for quickly releasing the fluid under pressure from the trainpipe, as presently to be described. When the train pipe is charged,fluid under pressure fills the passage 21 and communicating passage 22,and, acting on the under side of the check valve 23, lifts it from itsseat, andflows into the chamber 24, Where it acts on the back of thequick action valve 25, and tends to hold it to its seat. The checkvalve,

23, and the quick action valve, 25, are both normally seated, being heldto their seats by the spring 26, which is located in the tubular stem 27of the check valve, and bears, at one end, against the bottom of thetubular stem, and, at the other end, against the stem,28, of the quickaction valve. The check valve 23 closes when the pressure in the chamber24 is nearly equalized with the train pipe pressure. The quick actionvalve, 25, controls a passage 29, leading from the chamber 24 into achamber, 30, in which is located a supplementary movable abutment orpiston, 31, having a tubular stem 32 which fits over a guide stem 33projecting from the quick action valve. The stem 32, of the piston 31,is fitted to movein guides 34, and, as shown, is not positivelyconnected with the stem 33 of the quick action valve. If preferred,however, the quick action'valve and the piston may be positivelyconnected by a single stem, or the connection between them may beotherwise varied; the essential feature of the construction being that asufficient movement of the piston from its normal position shall openthe quick action valve. g

A passage 16 leads from the passage 4,"which is normally in opencommunication with the train pipe, to a port 17 in the seat, 18, of theslide valve 11, and a port or passage 35, in the valve seat,communicates with one end of the chamber 30, above the piston 31. The

ports 17 and are disconnected, and the port 17 is closed by the face ofthe slide valve when the slide valve is in its normal, or release,position, or when it is in the service position, that is, the positionin which the port 13 in the slide valve registers with the brakecylinder port 19. When, however, a sufficiently great and rapidreduction of train pipe pressure is effected to produce an emergencyapplication of the brakes, the slide valve 11 is moved by the piston 8to the limit of its stroke to the left, as shown in Fig. 2, and therecess or cavity 20, in the slide valve, connects the ports 17 and 35 inthe valve seat. Fluid under pressure from the train pipe then flowsthrough the passage 16, cavity 20, and port or passage 35, into thechamber above the piston 31, and, acting on the piston 31, forces itdown on the stem 33 and unseats the quick action valve 25. When thequick action valve is unseated, the fluid under pressure in the chamber24 escapes into the chamber 30, and, through the passage 36, into thebrake cylinder. The release of pressure above the check valve 23 permitsthe fluid under pressure in the train pipe to lift said check valve,and, the quick action valve, 25, being open, the fluid from the trainpipe flows through the passage 22, chamber 24, passage 29, chamber 30,and passage 36, to the brake cylinder.

When, or slightly before, the train pipe pressure equalizes with thepressure in the brake cylinder, the check valve, 23,returns to its seat,and prevents a back flow of fluid from the brake cylinder to the trainpipe. At the same time that the ports 17 and 35 are connected, by thecavity 20, the port 14: in the slide valve registers with the port 19 inthe valve seat, and fluid under pressure flows from the auxiliaryreservoir through the ports 14 and 19, and passages 37 and 36, into thebrake cylinder. When the train pipe is again charged, for the purpose ofreleasing the brakes, the piston 8 and the slide valve 11 are returnedto the positions shown in Fig. 1. Oommunication between the auxiliaryreservoir and the brake cylinder is then cut off by the closing of theports 13 and 1 1 in the valve; communication between the brake cylinderand the atmosphere is opened by connecting the port 19 with the exhaustport 38, through the cavity 15 in the valve; and the port 17in the valveseat is disconnected from the port or passage 35, by being covered bythe face of the slide valve, communication being thereby cut off betweenthe passage 16 and the chamber 30. The fluid admitted to the chamber 30,above the piston 31, is permitted to escape either around the piston,which may be loosely fitted for that purpose, or through one or moreopenings through the piston, or through a groove formed in the edge ofthe piston or in the wall of the piston chamber. Such openings orpassages must not, however, be so large as to interfere with or preventthe prompt action, on the piston, of the fluid admitted above the pistonfor the purpose of opening the quick action valve.

If preferred, a diaphragm may be employed instead of the piston 31, andthe fluid released from the train pipe may be permitted to escape to theatmosphere or to a reservoir or chamber, or to a second brake cylinder.

WVhile I have shown a slide valve adapted to operate both asa supply andrelease valve, for admitting fluid from the auxiliary reservoir to thebrake cylinder and releasing it from the brake cylinder to theatmosphere, as shown in LettersPatentNo. 360,070, granted and issued toGeorge Westinghouse, J12, March 29, 1887, my invention is not limited inits application to the employment of such specific construction. Theslide valve, in addition to its function in connection with myinvention, may operate merely as an exhaust valve, for releasing fluidfrom the brake cylinder to the atmosphere; or, if preferred, a separatevalve of any form operated by the triple valve piston, may be employedin connection with a triple valve of either the slide or of the puppetvalve type.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In anautomatic fluid pressure brake system, the combination with a movableabutment and a release valve controlling a passage for the release offluid under pressure from the train pipe, of a main valve of a triplevalve, controlling the admission of fluid from the train pipe to themovable abutment, for opening the release valve, substantially as setforth.

2. In an automatic fluid pressure brake system, the combination, with arelease valve controlling a passage from the train pipe, of a movableabutment having normally an equilibrium ot' fluid pressures on itsopposite sides, a passage through which fluid may be admitted from thetrain pipe to the abutment, and a valve operated by the triple valvepiston for admitting fluid under pressure from the train pipe to themovable abutment for opening the release valve, substantially as setforth.

3. In an automatic fluid pressure brake system, the combination, with arelease valve controlling a passage from the train pipe, of a movableabutment exposed on one side to brake cylinder pressure and a valveoperated by the piston of a triple valve for admitting train pipepressure to the other side of the movable abutment, substantially as setforth.

4. In an automatic fluid pressure brake system, the combination, with atriple valve, of a release valve controlling a passage from the trainpipe, a supplementary movable abutment having, normally, an equilibriumof fluid pressures on its opposite sides, and a valve operated by thetriple valve piston and adapted to admit fluid under pressure from thetrain pipe to the supplementary movable abutment when the triple valvepiston is in the emergency position, substantially as set forth.

5. In an automatic fluid pressure brake system, the combination, with atriple valve, of a release valve controlling a passage for the releaseof fluid under pressure from the train pipe, a movable abutment, foroperating the release valve, which is fitted in a chamber normallydisconnected from the train pipe, and avalve, operated by the movementof the triple valve piston, for admitting fluid under pressure from thetrain pipe to the movable abutment, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HENRY HERMAN WESTINGHOUSE. -Witnesses:

J. SNOWDEN BELL, T. J. HOGAN.

